Problem with Personalized Marketing

[glennmacdady]

Hi Everyone,

Recently I've turned up the heat on my marketing campaign by creating a very personalized letter that I send out to my various target markets. The new letter looks something like this:

===============

Dear <Owner's First Name>,

I am writing you this letter because I am interested in purchasing your property located at <Property Address>, in <Town>, NJ.

Yada Yada Yada

Call me directly at xxx-xxx-xxxx

Sincerely,

Glenn <Scanned Signature>

===============

I use a Mail Merge to fill in all the fields from my database of property owners. The letter has been getting a terrific response rate (about 9%) which I am very happy with.  The problem is, the homeowners that call me think that I sent the letter EXCLUSIVELY to them and expect me to know who they are, what their address is, etc. as if I'd been anxiously awaiting their call! When they find out that I market this letter to hundreds of homeowners, they balk.

Has anyone encountered this problem? Any suggestions as to what I can say to make these people feel at ease?

These forums are a wealth of info for any level of investor so thank you all for your help in launching my REI career!

~Glenn ???

[Mdhaas]

When they find out that I market this letter to hundreds of homeowners, they balk.

Don't tell them that you are bulk mailing.

You could tell them that you have several clients that you are working with and you want to ensure that each one receives the attention that they deserve.  This should make the caller feel a little more comfortable.

[Jeff Pitcrew]

If you keep a database, which it appears you do, isn't the name enough to do a lookup?

[ForeverInvestor]

Well yes you know their name and their address obviously. Tell them that you're interested in their house and since you have not personally been inside, you'd like to know more about it. You don't have to let them know you bulk mail your letters.

[Jeff Pitcrew]

That's not why I use postcards, but it certainly is a reason to add to the list <g>

[glennmacdady]

Just to clarify, I don't come right out and say, "I have no idea who you are because I bulk mail this letter to a thousand people a month." I guess they figure it out on their own...

You could tell them that you have several clients that you are working with and you want to ensure that each one receives the attention that they deserve.

This sounds like it would work well, can't wait to try it out. Thanks MdHass!

If you keep a database, which it appears you do, isn't the name enough to do a lookup?

Yes, this works great when I take calls in my office. However, I receive about half my calls when I'm on the road. I guess its time to get a good PDA so I can take that database with me!

Thanks for the replies! Anyone else ever have a similar problem?

~Glenn

[Jeff Pitcrew]

I've had someone call off a postcard and assume I knew who they were. How do I know this? Because they left a message saying they got my postcard and to give them a call. They didn't leave a number and the caller ID said restricted.  :D

[smaxor]

Caller ID restricted problems are solved with toll-free numbers. With telcan I can just look at their number online in real-time. One of the many nice features of a toll-free

[kjb1891]

Hey Mike,  have the postcards worked pretty well for you? How did you word your message on the cards? I was thinking starting my own postcard campaign in the near future.

[krish1]

Guy,
 You have a sweet problem to solve.
 Just get the property details exported to a spreadsheet
 and have it on your laptop.
 It might be also possible to download to a PDA ( so
 you have access while on the road )and
 pull up based on the property address.

 Just talk to the person, keep the convesation going
 and ask for the address. Then query the record and
 pull it up.

 Oh, by the way it would be sweet if the comps, the
 liens etc are already loaded up, so you can begin to
 talk business rather than start the investigation
 process at that point of time. But again, it is a matter
 of where you spend your time. Whether upfront for
 all the 90+ % of wasted letters or later for the ones
 that call back.

 -Krish

 

[reoconsultants]

You and 99% of everyone else is sending out the same thing Be different!!! I promise you will see better results!